Latch Key Kids
by dogbertcarroll
Summary: Someone must guard the Key, but why look for a new guardian when the old one is still in the area?
1. Chapter 1

**Latch Key Kids**

**Disclaimer: BtVS, DC Comics, and Harry Potter are the property of their respective creators and not something I own.**

"What's the prob Rob?" Beastboy asked as he entered the communications room where all the Titans had gathered.

"Call from the Justice League," Robin replied, opening communications.

The Martian Manhunter's face appeared on the view screen. "Greetings Titans, I have a message that may or may not be for Beast Boy."

"Huh, for me?" Beastboy asked.

"It was delivered to Superman by Mxyzptlk for 'the green guy' and it means nothing to me," Manhunter replied.

"Since when does Mxyzptlk run a postal service?" Cyborg asked.

"He said he was repaying a favor, since it wasn't out of his way," Manhunter explained. "Let me play the file and see if it makes any sense to you."

Martian Manhunter's face was replaced by a dark-haired man in a grey suit with a bowler hat that hadn't been in style for almost half a century.

"Whistler?" Beastboy whispered in shock.

"Heya kid," he replied cheerfully.

"You know him?" Robin asked.

Beastboy nodded his head. "Different life, different universe," he said his voice dropping in pitch. "Why call now?"

"Because just like last time, you're being entrusted with something," Whistler replied.

"What were you trusted with last time?" Starfire asked curiously.

"Is anyone else freaked out that B.B. and the recording can talk to one another?" Cyborg asked.

Hands were raised.

Beastboy rolled his eyes and chuckled, his posture changing from his habitual slouch. "I was trusted with the heart of a woman."

"We're not talking literal are we?" Cyborg asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"Getting poetic in your old age?" Whistler asked. He chuckled. "You were trusted with the safety of a chunk of creation."

"When did this happen?" Cyborg asked.

"Another life, another world," Whistler and Beastboy chorused.

"Now I too am feeling the freaked," Starfire said.

"Relax Star," Beastboy said, "any half-assed seer could make a tape like this."

"Or someone working in a couple extra dimensions," Whistler added.

"It's no big deal," he assured her, "OK, last time I was to stand guard over the Key and I did so quite happily, eventually marrying her and having a daughter, but that life's long past. Why me, why now?"

"Just as you were reborn so was she, and it was thought you wouldn't mind doing the duty again," the recording said.

"I wouldn't mind at all," Beastboy said with a shrug. "But this incarnation of me was an innocent-" he began.

"Was?" Raven demanded concerned, as all the Titans looked at Beastboy, who now seemed like a stranger wearing his skin.

"Yeah, was," Beastboy agreed. "Funny, optimistic, juvenile, naïve."

"And you're not anymore?" Robin asked.

"He still is, just not to the same degree," Whistler replied. "See, in his last life, and now in this one, he could be downright ruthless and uncompromising if he had to be."

"So he could destroy the Key if necessary," Raven said sadly.

Beastboy snorted. "That was probably the plan, but I don't work that way."

"He took the key and jumped blindly into infinity with her," Whistler said. "He gave up everything for her and sealed his fate."

"Sealed his fate?" Cyborg asked worried.

"She decided it equated to a marriage proposal," Beastboy said with a grin. "Struggle though I did, she had me good and married by the time we graduated med school."

"So what happened?" Cyborg asked.

"Parachuting accident took us both at once on our wedding anniversary," Beastboy said with a shrug.

"That is so sad," Starfire said hugging Beastboy so tight he couldn't breathe.

"They were in their mid-80s," Whistler said with a chuckle. "Now let him loose before he suffocates."

Beastboy gasped for breath as she released him.

"Sorry," Starfire apologized with a blush.

"No biggie," the green teen said as he caught his breath. "Hey Whistler, any chance I can recover what I had?"

"Sorry kiddo, all you get is memories from your last life, but most of it was knowledge anyway and the powers you got now should more than make up for the rest."

"You're right," Beastboy said brightening up. "OK, I'm good, catch you on the flip side."

"Later kid and good luck," Whistler said before vanishing as the tape ended and Martian Manhunter's face appeared once more.

"It was for me, thanks," Beastboy said.

"And the Key?" J'onn asked.

"Is none of your concern," Beastboy said his now slightly deeper voice holding a note of command.

"I'd think that the safety of a chunk of creation would concern us all," Superman said, appearing beside J'onn.

"Do I check Lois Lane for breast cancer?" Beastboy asked, confusing everyone. "No, that's your job. If you want a second pair of hands and eyes checking, I'll help, but I won't stick my nose where it doesn't belong otherwise."

Superman blushed and cleared his throat. "I don't mean to step on your toes, I'm just offering an additional set of hands and eyes."

"Thanks, but I have the Titans," Beastboy pointed out, "I need no other help," he said and cut the transmission.

"Batman is probably going to give me hell for that," Robin said amused.

"Tell him if he needs the Titans to help protect Gotham to feel free to ask, we have some practice," Beastboy suggested.

Robin laughed. "I'm going to hit the gym and duck his calls."

"Feel free to direct them my way," Beastboy called out as Robin left with Starfire floating behind him.

"I got some stuff to work on, I'll quiz you on that Key thing later," Cyborg said giving BB a fist bump before he left.

"So…" Raven forced out. "You know."

"Sure," Beastboy replied unconcerned.

"How can you be so blasé about what I am? How can you even bear to look at me?" Raven growled after a couple of seconds of silence. "I'm a monster, demon blood runs in my veins!"

"I've met a lot of demons in my last life and even an angel or two," Beastboy replied. "You do know they both spring from the same source, right?"

"Yeah…" she admitted slowly, not having thought about it before.

Beastboy got up put a hand on her shoulder and looked her right in the eye. "The only difference between the two groups was the decisions they made. Demons decided to spread pain, misery, and injury."

Raven found her pulse pounding and her breath quickening as he stepped in close and put his lips to her ear.

"It was the angels who chose to heal others, taking their pain into themselves," he whispered. He moved back a step as everything in the room rattled, signs of her fragile emotional state. "You ask how I can bare to look at you, but when I look at you … I don't see a demon."

"What do you see?" she almost whispered, but he simply smiled at her and left, causing her cheeks to redden, before she quickly sank into a meditative trance, ignoring the buzzing of the com.

**Typing by: Bankrupt Samurai!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Soldering iron," Cyborg said holding out a hand.

Beastboy handed it to him and waited while he thought things out.

"So you're like Beastboy, but not Beastboy?" he asked, half his body under the car he was working on in the garage.

"If I made you take a ballet class would you no longer be Cyborg?"

"Root beer," came the request from under the car which Beastboy slipped into his hand. An empty can was slung out from under the car in the direction of the trash can a minute later which deployed a mechanical tentacle to bin it. "A single ballet class, no. But I think we're talking about a lot more than a single ballet class," Cyborg said sliding out from under the car to look him in the eye.

"Licensed dentist in my eighties," Beastboy conceded.

"So it's more like you're an old friend I haven't seen in decades," Cyborg said reaching in and starting the silver, circuitry covered car, he'd been working on.

"Something like that," Beastboy agreed.

"Still wanna play stink ball?" Cyborg asked hopefully.

"Not so much," Beastboy said with a sigh. "I've got a bit more useful and manlier version in mind."

"Really?" Cyborg asked doubtfully.

"Painball," Beastboy said with a grin. "We take some large red balls, wire them to give shocks when they hit someone and can only be safely caught with special gloves."

"How big a shock?" Cyborg asked curiously.

"Enough to make you not want to get hit with them," the green teen said with a grin. "It was a version of dodge ball that was developed to help create situational awareness and the ability to aim and dodge thrown objects, while allowing us to have fun and the spectators to laugh until they wet themselves."

"Tell me more!" Cyborg said with a wide smile as he found his friend hadn't changed nearly as much as he feared.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Time for our heart to heart?" Robin asked as he jogged on the treadmill.

"Pretty much."

"How much Beastboy is left?"

"All of me, just a bit diluted by experience," he admitted.

"How is that going to affect you in battle?" Robin asked, shutting off the treadmill and grabbing his towel.

"What was your opinion of my skills before?"

"Hand to hand skills close to non-existent, but paw to hand skills were pretty high. You were the most flexible on where to stick you in battle and invaluable in foreign environments," Robin rattled off without pause. "Hot headed and a weak link at times when a cool head was needed, but without a doubt a heavy hitter."

"Fair enough," Beastboy said thoughtfully. "I'm a bit more level headed, better at hand to hand though still a brawler by your standards, much more savage when cornered, know some magic, which may not even work here, and have some serious skills with weapons."

"What kind of doctor were you?" Robin asked.

"I was a dentist."

"And the combat skills?"

"A demon fighter for about a decade before retiring getting married and settling down," Beastboy explained.

"Only one way to test what you remember," Robin said.

"The ring?"

"The ring."

**Typing by: Bankrupt Samurai**


	3. Chapter 3

Robin raised an eyebrow as Beastboy put on boxing gloves. "That's going to interfere with you changing shape," he said as he entered the ring.

"Why would I need to change shape?" Beastboy asked with an innocent smile.

"It is just boxing," Robin agreed, relaxing a bit.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Mistake number one," Batman said as the founding members of the JLU watched the Teen Titans gym through a hacked security cam.

"What do you mean?" Flash asked.

"He's lowering his guard," Batman explained. "He's assuming he has the upper hand because Beastboy is forgoing using his powers."

"You can tell all that?" Flash asked shocked.

"I trained him," Batman reminded him.

"So shouldn't he have the upper hand?" Flash pointed out.

"Never assume you have the upper hand," Batman said.

"Do everything you can to make sure you have it, but even then - never assume it," Wonder Woman explained.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Rules?" Beastboy asked, stretching a little to work out any kinks.

"None," Robin replied. "It's a spar not a fight to the death, so we should be good."

"You got it boss," Beastboy said as he brought his mitts up.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Strike two," Flash said.

"Explain," Batman said knowing what the answer was, but giving Flash a chance to show off a little.

"He was given an opportunity to set the rules himself and he flubbed it."

"He's not taking it seriously," Shayera offered. "That's why he's making mistakes."

"It's a self-correcting problem," Batman said, "Providing Beastboy has changed as much as the scene with Robin leads me to believe he has."

"Have you bugged the entire world or what?" Flash demanded, recalling the scene in the Titan's com room after Beastboy had 'hung up' on them.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Robin fell back, an onslaught of blows almost breaking through his guard. He tried to return the favor, but Beastboy proved to be almost as slippery as an eel, deflecting most of the force of any blow he blocked to the side.

**Ten minutes later…**

Robin realized Beastboy was trying to wear him down, as he tried to copy his opponents frustrating skill at deflecting blows using a minimum of effort. And what's worse was it was working. "Kickboxing?" Robin asked.

Beastboy nodded, immediately springing back on the assumption that Robin would start kicking the instant he saw the decision in his eyes.

**Twenty minutes later…**

The Titans watched spellbound as Beastboy and Robin continued the fight, neither showing hints of fatigue despite how long they'd been going at it.

The alarm went off and red lights flashed.

"Something going down at the museum of modern art," Cyborg announced after looking at his communicator. "We on it or what?"

"Work first," Beastboy suggested.

"Play later," Robin agreed. "Titan's go!"

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Shouldn't they be tired out by now?" Flash asked.

"They're pacing themselves," Superman said.

"Beastboy is skilled enough to hold his own defensively as is Robin," Shayera offered. "And they both seem to believe they have better stamina than their opponent, so while probing for weakness and taking shots of opportunity they are both trying to outlast each other.

"Twenty on Robin," Flash offered.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Mammoth held up his hands. "We ain't doing anything illegal," he quickly clarified ignoring the screams and sounds of things being broken inside.

"Really?" Raven asked raising an eyebrow.

"They stole something of Gizmo's, thinking it was an unfinished sculpture," the enormous curly horned teen explained. "He's just trying to retrieve it.

"He's serious," Raven said reading his emotions.

"We'll keep an eye on Mammoth," Robin volunteered. "You guys can see about calming them down and getting Gizmo's stuff back."

The two female Titans flew in, Cyborg following them.

"Game on?" Beastboy asked, bringing a pair of boxing gloves from behind his back.

"Game on," Robin agreed bringing a pair of gloves from behind his back and removing his Robin outfit, revealing he had on his boxing outfit underneath.

Mammoth watched in disbelief as the two Titans attacked each other on the front steps of the museum, far more viciously than they'd ever attacked him.

**Ten minutes later…**

"No, I'm not saying you were in the wrong here," Raven admitted as she and Jinx exited the museum, "I'm just saying you shouldn't take the law into your own hands."

"That's kinda ironic coming from-" the pink-haired witch's voice trailed off as she saw what was going on outside.

"Why did you-" Starfire stopped as she caught sight of Robin and Beastboy.

Robin flipped backwards avoiding a footsweep from Beastboy, who caught a foot in the jaw from the follow up front kick.

Everyone winced at the sound of Beastboy's head slamming into the sidewalk, though he shook it off and his mule kick caught Robin in the gut.

"The park!" Jinx ordered loudly. "You're blocking traffic here."

As the entire group moved to the park Raven gave Jinx a look, wondering what she was up to.

"Multiple terrain and less chance of a concussion," she quickly pointed out.

Beastboy and Robin scanned the park and nodded to each other.

"Lose the gloves?" Beastboy suggested.

"We're past them," Robin agreed, as they followed the trail to the large fountain in the center of the park.

"On three," Mammoth announced stepping between the two and raising a hand.

"And?" Raven asked Jinx quietly.

"And if they happened to get soaked while fighting the view wouldn't be unpleasant," Jinx admitted.

Raven pulled her hood up to cover her blush and Starfire pulled out her communicator and turned on video mode to record it.

"Begin!" Mammoth yelled jumping backwards as Beastboy tackled Robin into the fountain.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"If Beastboy was going to use his abilities that would be the ideal place to go," Shayera said.

"He's still holding to no powers," Flash said, "though he seems to have gotten a second wind. I don't suppose he can become an Atlantean?"

Aquaman, who'd arrived a few minutes before shook his head. "Doesn't look it, his strength hasn't increased."

"He was thirsty and had sweat in his eyes," Superman answered. "It was just good tactics and the water seems to be hampering Robin's mobility more than Beastboy's."

"Twenty on Beastboy," Aquaman offered.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

**Ten minutes later…**

A reporter cleared his throat drawing Raven's attention to the camera crew and crowd that had gathered. "Miss Raven, would you care to speak about the difficulty your teammates appear to be having?"

"This?" Raven asked with a frown. "This is just training."

The crowd collectively winced as Robin feinted with his right and landed a left that knocked Beastboy out of the fountain.

"Really?" the reporter asked doubtfully.

"I'm an empath," Raven reminded him.

"Not to mention the smiles they're sporting," Jinx pointed out. "If I didn't like 'em made of metal and muscle…" Realizing what she'd admitted, Jinx blushed and ducked back into the crowd.

"They don't fight me like that," Mammoth offered, as Beastboy blocked a high kick with his shoulder so he could nail Robin in the inner thigh while his leg was at full extension.

"You have to trust your fellow warrior's skill in battle to reach that level," Starfire said proudly, "Well that or not care if they live or die."

Robin nailed Beastboy with a throat strike and he responded with a head butt that either broke or dislocated Robin's nose.

"I'm so glad you are the good guys," Mammoth whimpered.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Twenty on Beastboy," Wonder Woman announced.

"I'll cover that!" Shayera agreed. "Beastboy's beginning to impress me, but Robin's warrior spirit is well known."

"Twenty on Robin," Superman said.

"Supes?" Flash asked surprised.

"Fighting without your powers is much harder than you think," Superman answered. "Plus, Robin was trained by Batman."

"I think he was more surprised you were betting," Aquaman offered.

"I'll cover that twenty," Martian Manhunter said. "Green solidarity," he joked.

"Betting on a friend is showing support, not gambling," Superman explained. "Besides wagers with friends is quite different from organized gambling, which leads to organized crime."

"Point," Flash admitted as almost the entire JLU seemed to be watching the battle.

"A hundred says Robin breaks out weapons before Beastboy uses his powers," Guy offered.

"You're on," John Stewart replied. "Weapons vs powers, first to pull 'em loses."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Robin snapped his nose back in place as Beastboy caught his breath. "Rules on weapons?"

"None, if you got 'em, whip it out," Beastboy said. "I assumed you'd have something just in case, anyway."

Robin pulled out a pair of short metal rods that connected and extended into a full size staff.

Beastboy laughed and whipped out a pair of extendable metal batons.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Tie?" John offered.

"Yeah, they both whipped 'em out," Guy agreed.

**Typing by: Bankrupt Samurai**


End file.
